User Stories
Teacher Amazed at progress - (AU)
Age: 10 years old
Gender: Male
Location: Victoria
Practice: Lewis and Lewis (VIC)
Background: The client was a boy who had been diagnosed with ADHD. He had a history of learning difficulties. He had also been accessing Reading Recovery for literacy and Speech Therapy to address poor phonological awareness skills.
Key challenges:
- Disorganised
- Difficulty retaining instructions and previously taught material
- Difficulty maintaining attention and concentration
- As a result of his literacy and numeracy difficulties his teacher wanted to place him on a modified program even though his IQ was within the normal range
- Messy writing
Training outcomes:
- Teacher was amazed at his progress and no longer felt he needed to be placed on a modified program. Literacy and numeracy improved to average range.
- Parents reported that his first school report after completion of Cogmed was the best report he had ever received.
- More organized and attentive.
- Writing also improved.
- Child reported that it felt like his brain was ‘uncorked’ after Cogmed.
Big Leap in Confidence- (NZ)
Age: 9
Gender: Male
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Practice: Working Memory New Zealand
Background:
“Sam is my 9 year old son. I would say he is incredibly bright - can tell me how an engine works, thrives on the history and discovery channel. Unfortunately for Sam, school is hard. He struggles greatly to write, he virtually cannot spell and is most often forgetful and disorganised. Other than for reading, Sam is in the "bottom group" for each subject at school and while he is happy I worry that he may soon become disillusioned and reluctant to continue with school.
We have been looking for further help for Sam and asked around school and looked on the internet. As tempting as it was to go with a program that promised a quick fix we chose Cogmed because it didn't! We also opted to go with Cogmed because of Jenny and Pete - both intellectual but very personable people who were so understanding and seemed to know what we were feeling and the outcome we were hoping for with Sam. Equally important was how they were when meeting and assessing Sam.
In the first couple of weeks of Cogmed we noticed that Sam was prepared to attempt a computer based Maths learning program which he would not do previously. Now at Cogmed week 5 he is requesting to go onto the Math program and although his "level" is low he is happily trying and completing the stages. It is great to see the smile on his face when he achieves (he NEVER persevered before). I feel that Sam now follows through with things. School notices make it home from school, messages are relayed and Sam seems to be better organised. Sam's teacher has also noticed a change in this area.
Sam has said that he thinks Cogmed has "helped". He told me that he feels it has made it easier to concentrate. We can see a big leap in his confidence to attempt things. Although we have been told that results are usually shown around the 6 month mark we are very pleased with subtle changes in Sam already and we are very, very pleased that we committed to Cogmed.
Key challenges:
- Had great difficulty remembering what he heard
- Poor writer, reader and speller
- Consistently forgot about his homework
- Disorganized and had a hard time persevering with tasks
- Was in “bottom classes” for most subjects at school
Training outcomes:
- Turns in homework without being reminded
- Improved auditory memory – it is now much easier to concentrate
- Is much more organized – misplaces his things less
- Ability to start and complete tasks is greatly improved
*Photos above are not of the actual users whose experience we describe – we understand that poor working memory is often a hidden weakness that impacts people in a very personal way. Out of respect for their privacy, we have kept the identities of these people anonymous.
